Rs 500 and 1,000 notes banned: That smog you see is cash unto ash

As Americans count their votes, thousands of Indians are busy counting their notes.

And it was done with great precision.

Arvind Kejriwal, for once has got it right. It is entirely Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fault and the skies will go grey soon as the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes go up in smoke. Bonfires of the vanities have nothing on this and the move from cash to ash will wipe off thousands of crores of black money.

I say it in jest. It is delightfully cruel and therefore delightfully funny. Modi has literally put his money where his mouth is; he captured not just the black money hoarders but even the political firmament and the mafias that have created a parallel economy in the country. When you think of the fact that 26 percent of the Indian economy is funded by counterfeit notes and that we are burdened by this excess of criminal activity, a few days of hassle for the common man is worth the cleansing.

If anything, now that Modi has embarked on this incredible financial surgical strike we have to support it. When I say we I mean the usually heartless, cold-blooded banks — both private and nationalised — whose staff should be put on full time duty and supervised to see to it that the common man is given a decent break.

Banks are not friendly organisations and the people who put their money in them are seen as necessary nuisance.

We do not need to be given Rs 4000 back for Rs 5000. There is no cutback on it. We do not need to be told to come tomorrow. We do not want to wait all day in line because the bankers are enjoying making us dance through hoops and quoting random rules to us.

Yes, some of us have a couple of Rs 1000 notes and a few Rs 500 notes, seeing as how these banks across India have over 120 holidays a year, it will do them good to sit down for overtime (without getting paid) and care for their customers…that will be a change.

If the government could announce a system which includes surveillance of their conduct and a complaint hot desk, that would be very decent, thank you very much. Without courteous banks, a good thing done will have a downside.

The rupee should be suitably galvanised if the malignant cancers are being removed.

And as far as Indians are concerned the US 45th president has become terribly secondary.